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Author: Dave Riggert

Bearcats win at Northeastern State to clinch third-straight MIAA title

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Northwest2013riggertBy David Boyce, Northwest Athletics

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – As postseason draws closer, Northwest Missouri State’s 73-66 victory over Northeastern State Saturday evening at NSU Event Center was the perfect-style game for the Bearcats.

With the MIAA conference title now locked up, Northwest needs games in which execution on both ends of the floor is vital. Blowouts are rare in the NCAA Division II tournament.

Northwest looked like it was on the way to a blowout when it held a 15-point lead midway through the first half. But Northeastern State fought back and created a tense atmosphere in the second half.

But en route to their ninth straight victory, the Bearcats never trailed in the second half and that was because they made plays when they absolutely needed them. Northwest improved to 19-5 overall and 16-3 in the MIAA. It is the third straight conference title for the Bearcats.

“It shows the toughness of our kids,” said Northwest coach Ben McCollum said. “It also shows in a 14-team league with the quality of coaches and quality of players, these kids can maintain that consistency and be able to come out with wins.

“In basketball, the ball doesn’t always bounce your way. You have off nights. You may have injuries and things happen, but you have to be able to adapt to those things and continue to win and continue with the process. The kids did that and it shows what kind of kids we have and the kind of assistant coaches we have in this program.”

Northwest wraps up the regular season with their final three games at Bearcat Arena, starting at 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 20 against rival Missouri Western.

Northwest started the second half with a four-point lead and it quickly dropped to 42-40. For the rest of the half, the Bearcats never built a double-digit lead. They led 59-58 with just under 5 minutes left

The Bearcats responded with a corner three-pointer from junior Zach Schneider, who finished with 23 points, going six for 12 from three-point range. His trey gave Northwest a 62-58 lead with 4:14 left.

“We were struggling with their pressure and all five of them were on the other side of the floor and Conner Crooker made a great skip pass and hit me right at my spot and I let it fly,” Schneider said.

Northwest increased its lead to 67-60, but the RiverHawks had one more run left in them. They closed to 67-64. With 36 seconds left, sophomore Xavier Kurth stepped to the line.

Kurth, who has been battling injuries all season, missed his first free throw. He made the second free throw, making it a two-possession game. Northeastern State couldn’t overcome it.

“Words can’t explain how happy I am to be back, playing basketball again,” said Kurth, who finished with six points. “I was missing so much time. To contribute to a big win like this and help us win conference outright is huge.”

Sophomore Justin Pitts finished with 18 points and Crooker added 12 points.

“We were on our heels the whole second half. When a team gets on their heels and they are able to still not make mistakes and just score enough, it is good. To be able to withstand that for 20 minutes against overwhelming pressure and take us completely out of everything we are doing shows the level of toughness our kids have.”

Although Northwest led most of the first half and took a 42-38 lead into halftime, give credit to Northeastern State for keeping the game close.

The Bearcats were sailing along midway through the first half, hitting three-pointers like they were layups. When Crooker made his one three-pointer in the first half, it gave the Bearcats a 31-16 lead. During that blistering hot start, Zach Schneider made four three-pointers.

Northeastern State didn’t allow that barrage of three-pointers knock it off its game. Instead, the RiverHawks picked up their defensive intensity and became more aggressive on their full court pressure. It knocked Northwest off its offensive rhythm.

As shots started to fall more frequently for Northeastern State, it became clear Northwest wasn’t going to have an easy blowout win. The RiverHawks closed to 38-31 late in the first half on a three-pointer by Kilven Samuel.

It appeared Northwest would take a seven-point lead into halftime when Justin Pitts made a field goal with under 10 seconds left, making it 42-35. But at this point, Northeastern State was hot. The RiverHawks got a trey from Trey Mohair with 2 seconds remaining in the first half.

“It is going to be like this in postseason tournament so this was good reps for that,” Schneider said. “We did a good job of handling pressure, which we will see in postseason, too.”

— Northwest Athletics —

Graham leads No. 6 KU to road win at No. 3 Oklahoma

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riggertKUNORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Kansas’ Devonte’ Graham stole the show from Buddy Hield.

Graham scored a career-high 27 points and did a tenacious job defending the nation’s No. 2 scorer to help the sixth-ranked Jayhawks defeat No. 3 Oklahoma 76-72 on Saturday.

“I just tried to make every shot tough on him,” Graham, a sophomore guard, said of defending Hield. “He still knocked down five trey balls. He still got his shots off. He had a good game. I just tried to lock up and play the best defense I could.”

It was only the third time in Graham’s career that he scored at least 20 points. He made 6 of 9 3-point attempts for the Jayhawks (21-4, 9-3 Big 12).

“All the stuff he did was big-time,” Kansas forward Landen Lucas said. “He was a man today. He carried the team. We all just tried to do our part, and he finished it for us.

Kansas won the first meeting 109-106 in triple overtime on Jan. 4, despite Hield’s 46 points. This time, Hield scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half, but he went without a field goal in the first half and made 5 of 15 field goals overall.

“I had good shots in the first half, and I wasn’t able to put them down,” Hield said. “They guarded me really well and threw a lot of bodies at me.”

Graham scored 17 points in the second half to help Kansas keep pace.

“He was great,” Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said. “He made big plays when they needed them, especially when we had a little bit of a lead, and we couldn’t get a stop — he probably scored two or three of those. Good player. Talented guy. Stepped up there and made key buckets for them.”

Kansas notched its fifth straight win and snapped Oklahoma’s 19-game home winning streak. The Jayhawks were coming off a victory over No. 10 West Virginia on Tuesday.

Isaiah Cousins added 21 points for the Sooners (20-4, 8-4), who fell out of a tie for the conference lead. Oklahoma matched a season-low by shooting 33.3 percent from the field. The Sooners, who entered the game leading the nation in 3-point percentage, made just 10 of 32 from beyond the arc.

“That’s about as good as we can play defensively,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.

Even with that, it almost got away from the Jayhawks.

Oklahoma trailed 73-71 and called a timeout with 32.1 seconds remaining. Hield made the first of two free throws with 25.3 seconds to go, and Kansas rebounded the miss.

Graham made two free throws with 19 seconds to play to put Kansas up three. Oklahoma’s Cousins shot a quick 3-point attempt that missed, and Kansas’ Jamari Traylor made the second of two free throws with 10 seconds remaining to put it out of reach.

Kansas ran out to a 20-6 lead as the Sooners made just two of their first 19 shots. Hield didn’t score until 9:04 remained in the first half.

Perry Ellis committed his second foul with 4:51 left in the first half and went to the bench with the Jayhawks leading 32-19. Oklahoma closed the half on a 14-6 run to make it 38-33.

The Sooners shot just 26.7 percent from the field in the first half and made 2 of 13 3-point attempts, but they made 15 of 18 free throws. Kansas shot 53.6 percent in the first half but committed eight turnovers.

Hield’s first field goal, a 3-pointer with 18:28 remaining, put the Sooners up 39-38. Consecutive 3-pointers by Hield put the Sooners ahead 52-48.

Kansas rallied to take a 59-57 lead on a 3-pointer by Wayne Selden Jr. with just over 7 minutes to play, and the game was close the rest of the way.

“Our guys kept working, kept clawing to get within reach, then made a good run there in the second half to get the lead,” Kruger said. “But with the lead, we couldn’t get a stop or two.”

QUOTABLE

Self, on the adjustment against Hield from the first meeting: “After playing Buddy the first time, when we held him to 46, I thought the best way was to play underneath him.”

STAT LINES

Ellis, who had scored at least 19 points in five of his past six games, was held to 10 points and did not score in the second half.

COURTSIDE

Oklahoma City Thunder coach Billy Donovan attended the game.

TIP-INS

Kansas: The Jayhawks did not trail in either of their previous two games, wins over TCU and West Virginia. … Made just two free throws in the first half. … Frank Mason fouled out with 14 points.

Oklahoma: The Sooners beat Kansas 75-73 last year in Norman on Hield’s tip-in at the buzzer. … Hield, Cousins, Ryan Spangler and Jordan Woodard have started 92 consecutive games together.

UP NEXT

Kansas hosts Oklahoma State on Monday.

Oklahoma plays at Texas Tech on Wednesday.

— Associated Press —

Northwest women come up short against RiverHawks

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Northwest2013riggertBy David Boyce, Northwest Athletics

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – A four-point third quarter prevented Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team from picking up a road win at Northeastern State. The Bearcats lost 50-35 Saturday afternoon at NSU Event Center.

The cold-shooting quarter ruined a gritty effort by the Bearcats late in the second quarter that allowed Northwest to pull within three points at halftime.

Northeastern State scored the first six points in the third quarter and built a 29-20 lead. Two free throws by freshman Arbrie Benson put the Bearcats on the scoreboard in the second half.

The RiverHawks scored the next three. But Northwest was still in the game. The Bearcats went into the fourth quarter trailing 32-24.

Hopes of a road win were dashed in the first couple of minutes in the fourth when Northeastern State scored five straight points for a 37-24 lead. The Bearcats never scored more than 11 points in any of the four quarters.

It was just one of those games when the shots didn’t fall for Northwest.

“At the start the game we were getting any look we wanted to, but because the shots weren’t falling, that took them out of the game on the other end of the floor,” Northwest coach Buck Scheel said. “If one thing is going bad on one end of the floor, you can’t let it happen on the other end.”

Northwest now has a week between games. The Bearcats will conclude the regular season with three straight home games, starting 1:30 p.m. Feb. 20 against rival Missouri Western.

Northwest did a great job going into halftime trailing only 23-20. Throughout the first quarter and into the second quarter, the Bearcats put up good shots, but they kept rimming out.

The cold start allowed Northeastern State to build a 23-11 lead late in the second quarter. With a few minutes left until halftime, shot finally started falling for Northwest.

It started with a basket from senior Tember Schechinger followed by a strong drive to the basket for a layup from freshman Arbrie Benson. The second quarter concluded with another field goal from Schechinger and then a three-pointer from Schechinger. Schechinger finished with 13 points.

As it turned out, the first half was statistically the same for both teams. Northwest shot 32.1 percent from the field, going nine for 28. Northeastern State was nine for 29 from the field for 31.0 percent. On the boards, Northwest held the advantage, outrebounding the RiverHawks 24-17.

“I told them the biggest thing for us was it wasn’t necessarily just the missed shots, from the get go we had low energy, our effort wasn’t there across the board and our focus wasn’t there.

“I told them before the game that this was a game we had to get. Situations like that you have to have people step up, and we didn’t have anybody step up.”

— Northwest Athletics —

Kansas State drops overtime game at Oklahoma State

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riggertKansasStateSTILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma State was determined not to let another close game slip away.

After losing three straight and nine of its previous 11, with five of those defeats decided by five points or fewer, the Cowboys found a way to win this time.

Tavarius Shine came off the bench to score 11 points, five in overtime, to lead Oklahoma State to a 58-55 victory over Kansas State on Saturday.

Leyton Hammonds led the Cowboys (12-13, 3-9 Big 12) with 13 points, while adding six rebounds, while Jeff Newberry contributed 10 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.

“I’m just really proud of our team’s effort, really proud of the fight, the grit we played with,” said OSU coach Travis Ford. “We played with a winning attitude.”

Ford wasn’t sure the team’s experience in close games was the difference, but he was happy to see his team win one for a change.

“It helps, there’s no doubt you learn out of them, but it doesn’t guarantee you anything,” Ford said. “We’ve been through a lot of close games this year, and to be able to pull one out, obviously, our guys are very excited. I’m just really proud of them for sticking together and staying positive.”

Justin Edwards scored 14 points and posted 13 rebounds to lead Kansas State (14-11, 3-9), which fell to 0-3 in overtime games this year.

“I don’t know where our emotion is right now, it’s disappointing,” said K-State coach Bruce Weber. “I tried to get them riled up, I was trying to get some fire in them. We’ve had a lot of bad things happen, but so have they. We didn’t play well enough to win.”

Oklahoma State nearly won it at the end of regulation, as it appeared that Newberry hit a 3-pointer from half court just as the buzzer sounded. The officials called it good, but a video review showed that Newberry released the ball a split second after the clock expired, overturning the verdict.

“What made a big difference, I didn’t think it counted, and even Newberry came over to the huddle and said, `Coach, it didn’t count,” Ford said. “I think it got our guys back to, `Okay, let’s move on.’ Because if you think it did, and all of a sudden they say no, it can be tough, but I was already talking to our team as if it did not count. I think that helped us a little bit as far as the mental aspect.”

In overtime, Shine connected on a 3 from the right corner with 3:06 left, then sank two free throws with 1:10 to go, giving the Cowboys a 57-52 advantage.

After missing three consecutive free throws, K-State pulled to within 57-55 on Edwards’ layup with 22.2 seconds remaining, but a free throw from Newberry gave OSU a three-point lead with 21.6 to go.

The Wildcats had three attempts from 3-point range in the final 10 seconds, two by Edwards and one at the buzzer by Stephen Hurt, but none would fall.

“It was very frustrating,” Edwards said of the loss. “I feel like we came out slow, and if we came out with a little more aggression and effort it could have been a different scenario, but I guess it is what it is.”

TIP INS

Kansas State: Junior guard Wesley Iwundu entered the game leading the Wildcats in scoring, averaging 12.7 points per game, but wound up with just five. Iwundu shot 1-for-7 from the floor, and missed a 1-and-1 free throw in overtime, but did contribute seven assists and two steals.

Oklahoma State: After entering the day leading the Big 12 in free throw shooting percentage (75.3), the Cowboys shot just 10 of 17 (58.8 percent) from the line. Tyree Griffin connected on just one of his first five before ending up 4-for-8 and Joe Burton missed two key free throws with 3:44 remaining in regulation.

MASH UNIT

Oklahoma State freshman point guard Jawun Evans missed his third straight game with a right shoulder injury. Evans, who is averaging 12.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game, is out indefinitely. . The Cowboys were also without senior Phil Forte for the 22nd consecutive contest with an elbow injury. Forte, who was injured in the third game of the season, will likely not be back this year. . K-State played its fourth game without freshman Kamau Stokes, who is out indefinitely with a right knee injury. Stokes, who had started 20 of the previous 21 games, is averaging 9.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game.

UP NEXT

Kansas State: on the road at TCU on Tuesday.

Oklahoma State: on the road at No. 6 Kansas on Monday.

— Associated Press —

Kendrix’s three in OT helps Missouri State beat Indiana State

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riggertMSUSPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Camyn Boone scored 30 points, and Chris Kendrix made a go ahead 3-pointer with a minute left in overtime and Missouri State beat Indiana State 89-85 on Saturday.

Kendrix and Dequon Miller added 19 points apiece for Missouri State (11-15, 7-7 Missouri Valley).

Devonte Brown scored 26 points to lead Indiana State (13-13, 7-7).

The Sycamores jumped out to a four-point lead with 2:30 left in overtime. Boone scored a jumper, and the Sycamores missed a 3 and two free throws on their next possession. Kendrix then made a 3 and Missouri State led 84-83. The Sycamores missed two more shots on the following possession, and the Bears made 5 of 6 from the line to seal it.

Indiana State’s Brenton Scott made a 3 to tie it at 77-all with nine seconds left in regulation. Miller’s potential game-winning 3 hit the front of the rim at the buzzer to force overtime.

— Associated Press —

White’s career-high 35 leads Nebraska over Penn State 70-54

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riggertNebraskaLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A cold and minor ear infection weren’t going to limit Andrew White III, not with team captain Shavon Shields on the bench continuing his recovery from a concussion and Nebraska in a rough patch of four losses in its previous five games.

White had career highs with six 3-pointers and 35 points, with 18 coming during a 39-7 run that carried the Cornhuskers to a 70-54 victory over Penn State on Saturday.

White’s big outing came three days after he had 10 in an 11-point loss at Wisconsin.

“The coaches tell me I’m the guy, that I have to lead the team now,” White said. “The coaches were on me just this morning about having to do better based on my performances in practice and the Wisconsin game. They challenged me to have a big game on both ends of the floor because they knew we were going to need a lot out of me to win this game.”

Coach Tim Miles said the pregame conversation with White was short.

“I just said, `Drew, this is why we recruited you — this game, this moment. We need you.’ ”

Miles said it was apparent that White was a “good listener.”

“He probably could have scored as many as I would have dialed up for him,” Miles said. “We really needed that. He was a real shot in the arm.”

The Huskers (14-12, 6-7 Big Ten) also played a strong defensive game, holding Penn State (12-13, 3-9) to two field goals over 17 1/2 minutes spanning the halves while pulling away. Nebraska converted Penn State’s 17 turnovers into 23 points.

Brandon Taylor had 14 points to lead the Nittany Lions.

White finished 11 of 17 from the field, including 6 of 10 on 3s. The Kansas transfer’s previous high of 30 points came Dec. 5 against Abilene Christian.

“You just knew White was going to come out like that,” Penn State coach Patrick Chambers said. “He played terrific. Watching the Wisconsin game, you knew he wouldn’t be held down another game in a row.”

White got the Huskers off to fast starts in the first and second halves. He had 15 points in the first 9 1/2 minutes and didn’t score again until he had 12 of Nebraska’s first 14 points of the second half.

Penn State switched from man-to-man defense to a 2/3 zone in the middle of the first half, and that slowed down White and his teammates temporarily. Devin Foster’s 35-foot 3-pointer just before the shot clock expired finished a 12-2 run that put the Nittany Lions up 29-25.

Nebraska scored seven of the last nine points of the half, though. Glynn Watson Jr.’s buzzer-beating 3 sent the Huskers to the locker room with a 32-31 lead.

White said he started coming down with a cold last Monday and had not had much energy all week. He didn’t tell Miles or the assistant coaches he was under the weather.

“I didn’t want to make any excuses coming into this game,” White said. “When your leader (Shields) goes down, you can’t go down with the sniffles.”

—

TIP-INS

Nebraska: For the second straight game, the Huskers started three true freshmen in Michael Jacobson, Glynn Watson and Jack McVeigh. … Jacobson had 10 points and four rebounds in 18 minutes… Jake Hammond had nine points and five rebounds. … The crowd roared when Shields walked out with the team before the game. Shields sustained his concussion last Saturday against Rutgers.

Penn State: The Nittany Lions haven’t won consecutive games since beating Louisiana-Monroe and Drexel in December, the first two games of a three-game win streak. … PSU had won its previous two meetings with Nebraska, including a 68-65 win in the Big Ten tournament.

EARLY 20TH CENTURY UNIFORMS

Nebraska wore uniforms modeled those worn early in the 20th century to honor Wilbur Wood, who lettered from 1908-10 and was the program’s first African-American player. The uniform featured red tones and a cream stripe across the jersey with the classic `N’ logo on the chest. The Huskers also will wear the Black History Month uniforms on Wednesday at Indiana and Feb. 25 at Penn State.

UP NEXT

Penn State hosts No. 4 Iowa on Wednesday.

Nebraska visits Indiana on Wednesday.

— Associated Press —

Western baseball opens weekend with 9-2 win at Henderson State

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riggertMissouriWesternARKADELPHIA, Ar. – The Missouri Western baseball team picked up their second victory of the season with balanced hitting and solid pitching earning a 9-2 victory over Henderson State Friday.

Missouri Western got on the board in the third inning. Ozzie Rodriguez led off the inning with a single to left field and two batters later got waved around to score when Orencio Fisher singled. The Griffons second run came when Cosimo Cannella singled to right field, scoring Fisher from second.

The Griffons added four more runs in the top of the fourth inning. Jeremy Alvarado tallied his first home run of the season to open the inning. MWSU’s rally was started up again as Rodriguez and Fisher both got on base. David Glaude doubled to left center to score both Rodriguez and Fisher. Cannella got his second hit of the night, scoring Glaude from second. The Griffons took a 6-0 lead to the fifth inning.

Henderson State loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth inning and eighth inning but couldn’t get a run across the plate in either inning. The Reddies managed to score in the bottom of the seventh on a two-run home run by Jared Gage.

MWSU added one insurance run in the sixth, eighth and ninth inning each. All three runs came from Fisher including his first home run of the season.

Fisher finished the day going 3-for-4, managing to score five runs and record two RBI. Cosimo Cannella had a monster day at the plate, going 5-for-6 and picking up four RBI. Six other Griffons had at least one hit on the day. Pitcher Weston Caindec picked up the win, moving to 1-1 on the season. He went 6.2 innings allowing just four hits and adding four strikeouts.

The Griffons will play two games on Saturday, starting with Ouachita Baptist at 11 a.m. and then Arkansas Tech at 3 p.m. Missouri Western faced off against Arkansas Tech last weekend  in a three-game series.

— MWSU Athletics —

No. 16 MWSU softball goes 1-1 on Day One of 8-State Classic

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riggertMissouriWesternBENTONVILLE, Ark. – It was another split for No. 16 Missouri Western Softball as the team won its first game and lost its second of the Arkansas-Monticello 8-State Classic.

Game 1: #16 MWSU 2, East Central 0

Kailey Green and Paige Shifflett hit solo home runs and Janie Smith limited East Central to four singles in a 2-0 victory to open the 8-State Classic.

Green put the Griffons up 1-0 in the second when she hit a two-out, solo homer to right center that hit a car parked outside the fence. Shifflett hit her first long ball of the year in the following inning, drilling a pitch to right field that left the park in a hurry, giving Missouri Western a 2-0 lead. Smith held the lead, wiggling out of her only real jam in the sixth. With the tying run at first, Smith allowed a single to center but Morgan Rathmann threw a runner out at the plate to end the inning.

Smith moved to 2-1 on the year with her first shutout of the season. The senior struck out six and walked one. Rathmann went 3-4 with a double and Shelbie Atwell was 2-3.

Game 2: Arkansas Tech 8, #16 MWSU 2

A five-run sixth inning for Arkansas Tech turned a tight game into a one-sided one as defensive miscues hurt the Griffons late in the game.

Two errors and three singles hurt Missouri Western in the sixth with all five Arkansas Tech runs that inning coming after Shyanne Saladino had retired two batters. Arkansas Tech tacked on two more in the top of the seventh on a two-run home run to the second batter of the inning. Missouri Western took a 2-1 lead in the fifth on a RBI singles from Shifflett and Taylor Hamilton.

Saladino was tagged with the loss, allowing three earned runs on two home runs in seven innings of work. She gave up nine hits and struck out one. Shifflett went 2-4 at the plate and Green went 2-3.

The loss dropped the Griffons to 3-3 on the year. The team is scheduled to play Southern Arkansas, Saturday at 9 a.m. and Missouri S&T at 11 a.m.

— MWSU Athletics —

No. 8 Griffons roll to 88-57 road win at Northeastern State

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riggertMissouriWesternTAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The No. 8 Missouri Western Women’s basketball team turned on the after burners after a slow first quarter of an 88-57 win at Northeastern State. The win improved the Griffons’ record to 22-2 overall and 15-2 in the MIAA. It’s the first time since the 2002-03 season the team has won more than 21 games in a season.

Early in the second quarter, Missouri Western trailed by two, but then Sarafina Handy knocked down a three that set off a 24-7 Griffon run to end the half. Missouri Western shot 69.4 percent from the field on the night, 72 percent in the second half. LaQuinta Jefferson led the Griffons with 21 points, going 9-11 from the field. Handy finished with 16 points on 4-5 shooting from behind the arc. The Griffon defense held its own, holding Northeastern State to 40.4 percent shooting from the field, just 31 percent in the second half and 11 percent from three-point range after the break.

The 15 MIAA wins this season are one less than the program record. The win also clinched a spot in the top-four of the final MIAA standings. The top-four seeds in the MIAA Tournament receive a bye in the first round and play their first games at Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium.

— MWSU Athletics —

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